The novel laser pendulum, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/979,953 and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, provides a laser pendulum having a plurality of laser diodes for emitting a laser line for leveling. These lasers may be operated in a “straight line” mode wherein only one laser is activated to produce a straight line projected on an object, or in a “360°” mode wherein all of the lasers are activated and projected as a horizontal line in a 360° arc.
As noted above, the laser diodes are mounted on a pendulum which is free to swing under the force of gravity. This allows the laser diodes to naturally produce a horizontal line as the pendulum centers itself under gravity. However, power must be supplied to the laser diodes in order to activate the leveling lasers. In the past, a pair of thin coiled wires would connect the laser diodes from the pendulum to a power source that is not located on the pendulum. These coiled wires, however, can affect the leveling accuracy due to the wire stiffness, thereby prohibiting the pendulum from swinging freely under the force of gravity. When non-simultaneous operation of the laser diodes is required, a typical solution is to employ a third wire. This third wire further limits the ability of the pendulum to swing free, thereby further reducing the pendulum accuracy.
Currently, it is an object of the present invention to provide the art with a two wire circuit for controlling the plurality of laser diodes independently of one another without reducing the accuracy of the laser pendulum.